In Your Prime And Faraway
by Wicked R
Summary: What I think Phoebe deserves.
1. Chapter 1

Title: In Your Prime And Faraway  
Author: Wicked dR

Disclaimer: WB is the God, not me. I'm writing this for my own pleasure.

Rating/Genre: PG/Skit

Summary/Set: in the future. What I think Phoebe deserves.

Warning: I really wrote this out of hatred towards Phoebe.

Phoebe locked her car and started up on the steps leading to the manor, glad she was finally almost home. The rays of the sun were shimmering brightly, and the whiteness of it could've prompted her to think about whitelighters, but the vibration of the air flickering in the midsummer heat always stroke a chord with her, making her ponder about Cole, a man she last saw almost forty years ago now. She couldn't count how many lovers, boyfriends she had had since, nobody measured up to him in her heart of hearts, not even her two fiancés, or Liam, the one out of those two she was actually married to for a decade. None of that mattered now, she was over trying to find real love. She didn't even think about it that much anymore. As the trickles of sweat were working their way down through her hair, she wished she was still able to wear sleeveless tops and miniskirts. She walked up slowly, feeling old, tired and overheated, wishing for a whitelighter sometimes to orb her back from work. Of course she hadn't seen Leo for year, he was always busy, especially since he had not had much reason to touch earth after Piper died and his sons joined the work force of the whitelighters. Even Chris, her still assigned whitelighter was a rare visitor, and even when he orbed in, he mostly came to see his aunt and was not there on business, since she was not a charmed one anymore and as such not a constant target of demon attacks. Paige had also left after their older sister died, she was always one for pursuing her own ambitions. Phoebe was lonely, not all that old in reality, but drained after half a life of demons trying to kill her every corner of the way. She stepped into the manor to be greeted by the familiar tinkling sound of the orbing she so missed.

"It took you a while to get back," Chris, in his mid thirties, manly and the very handsome father of two girls, finally have married the altered future's Bianca, greeted her with a hug, "I tried to get to you a few times, but you were in public places."

"Is there a problem?" Phoebe wasn't used to the urgency in his voice anymore.

"No, not a problem, at least not yet. But there is quite a lot of activity in the underworld and there is an up-and-coming power surge to be felt. We have no idea what it is, in fact not much has been known about what's happening amongst demons for the last few years, so the Elders hoped you would come down there with me and try to get a premonition."

"When? Now? Should we go now?" Phoebe was hoping she could at least get something to eat, "half an hour shouldn't matter. You want some fish?"

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"Chris! You could watch where you orb in! Back, back, now!" Phoebe reached for him, as the underground corridor, which seemed empty at first look started to fill up with demons. One of them emanated a force field with what looked like laser beam eyes that raised a wall between Phoebe and her whitelighter, both of them cornered by several demons armed with sledges at each side of the barrier.

Phoebe, not in the mood for a fight, but nevertheless still fit if she had to, aided with her levitating ability, threw some untamed punches and kicks at the group of sentinels, or whatever the attackers were, but saw Chris being whacked sternly over the head with something. The witch ducked out of the way of a fireball, not realising it wasn't a fireball at all, and it wasn't directed at her either. The energy sphere opened a hole in the ground in front of her, and its power sucked her in, and the demon who released it followed her into the opening, where the two opponents continued their tussle on the way to an unknown destination to Phoebe.

By the time they have touched solid ground, the demon had her in his strong grip. They rounded a corner and she was pushed up some stairs, "this way, witch."

"Why? What's here?"

"The king's private quarters. I'll honour you with that, cause you are a charmed one."

"Were, charmed. And how do you know?"

"I'm a sort of empath, just like you, but I see facts, not emotions."

"Great," Phoebe growled as she was led down a passage, into a large room and propelled onto the floor, being set free from the brawny arms now.

"Easy, will you?" She said to the demon doing the shove. She was ignored, what's more, the demon created one of his energy holes and vanished through it. She looked around in the room. It was vast and circular, dim and moderately warm. The walls were ruby, half covered with drapery of scenes of demonic power encounters. A long, swish rug led across the room to a marble platform with a well cushioned throne. She tried to find an exit, as the one they came in seemed to have moulded into the wall and was nowhere to be seen. Must've been also created by the power of the demon who took her. Chances were, most people would've teleported in there anyway.

"One of the charmed ones, huh? Which witch?" She didn't need to turn to recognise the owner of the voice, but an impulse made her look into that direction. The one that captured her stood in the midst of a group of demons, and the personification of tall, dark and handsome was the one that addressed him. Cole looked only about a couple of years older than she last seen him, if they were measuring it by human standards. The only thing that indicated about him, that more than a couple of years have passed was his long hair. You could say, Cole was in top form, at a best age for a demon. Regardless of her age, Phoebe felt suddenly very hot on the sight of the well-groomed, stylish, fresh, gorgeous, off handish, and just simply imposing man and knew that reaction will never change, no matter what.

His clothes were mostly green, matching his eyes, apart from his black shoes and golden vest on top of his shirt. He scrutinised her for a minute, as if not being sure who she was, then energetically walked over to his throne and sat on it. His darkly glittering green eyes laughed bemused as he saw her taking a fighting stance, "now how did we dig up such prize?" He looked her right in the eye, his voice dripping od sarcasm.

tbc


	2. Times Of Yore

Chapter 2: Times of Yore

Holding her head up, she started to march the length of the runner to face him, getting out a blue potion vial from her pocket as she reached the steps.

"What do you think you can achieve with that? Are you suicidal?" Cole tilted his head, that one of his guards took as a command to snap his fingers, then open his palm with Phoebe's potion in it, "take it to Arch," he ordered, "he is our witch, he crossed over and builds up an information book about what potions white witches use," Cole took the time to explain it to Phoebe.

"Where is my whitelighter?" She inquired.

"I haven't given my instructions about that yet," Cole walked down the steps and stood two feet away, "leave us," he ordered everyone.

"My liege..." her captor started.

"You can have your marriage arranged as you wish, Napoc. You serve well," to which Napoc bowed and disappeared with the rest of them, "you've got one chance Phoebe. Allow us access to the Book Of Shadows or watch your whitelighter die," he motioned and one of the tapestries became a screen on which she could see Chris writhing in pain with a darklighter arrow in his thigh.

"You know I would never do that."

"Well, people could change," he casually sat down on the marble steps, "of course that doesn't go with the stubborn and conceited ones."

"I'm not stubborn for the sake of being stubborn, but there are some values I will always keep myself to."

"Like not getting involved with a demon again? Don't be ridiculous, Phoebe. I was looking out for you for a while, even after you vanquished me for the second time, and you went out with two demons just I know of. Harmless ones, without active powers, sure, but you knew they were demons. And you didn't care. You know, I was hoping for something like this once happening, for me to have the chance to ask you why? Why did you stop caring about me? Why did you push me away so strongly that I lost all ground and used my powers? You knew I needed you."

"But Cole, I never stopped caring about you..."

"It didn't look like that to me."

"You were evil. You are evil."

"And the other demons you dated weren't? Think about this for a minute, your reasoning is totally slanted."

"With the others, there was no temptation to the other side. With you...with you I could've went anywhere."

"I didn't ask you to go anywhere. I accepted your witch life and family the way it was."

"I know that...and for the record, I appreciate I was too cagey. But does that matter now Cole? We are at different sides here. I would like to have my whitelighter back in one piece and..."

"It doesn't work like that Phoebe. You can't expect anything from me after what you did to me and besides that, I have my duties and my responsibilities towards my people. I'm sorry, but that's how things are. But...there might be another way. I absorbed powers very similar to Tempus' the second time in the wasteland, amongst others."

"You would...turn back time to before we came here? Why would you do that? You said you are not going to do anything for me."

"It wouldn't be just for you, and no, I can not turn back time as such. My powers are similar to Tempus', not the same. Remember the time when you conjured up your old self just before our wedding? I could send you back there and you could be your old self."

"It was an even older me."

"It doesn't matter. You could go back, as you are, and talk to yourself at that time. Tell her everything, stop everything that took us apart happening to us. I would never reign and you would never come down here with your whitelighter either."

"I could save Piper..."

"That too. So? What's the verdict?"

Phoebe nodded, "yes. There would be so many things I would do differently."

"In that case, there' s nothing more I wish to do in this reality. See you soon," Cole shot his eyes and started chanting his time travel spell.

The End.


	3. Faces Reloaded

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Chapter 3: Faces Reloaded

Old Phoebe walked into her bedroom she still occupied in her own time as well, although she had changed all the furniture in it since, and picked up a skimpy top, "uhh, the good ol' days. Of course nobody's gonna take you seriously until you stop dressing like a tramp."

"A tramp? Ugh, that is so in right now," the younger Phoebe wondered incredulously at her own older self.

"Oh, you'll learn."

"Learn what?"

Old Phoebe sighed and sat down on her old bed she once shared with Cole, "that making yourself so desirable that every men and demon wants you in their beds is not the right way to find love."

"To find love? But...haven't I...haven't we found love with Cole?"

"You found it and you threw it away. You will, more accurately speaking."

"Why? What has Cole done?"

"It not as much about what he does, but more about what you do."

"Why did I let go of Cole?"

"Honestly? I don't remember. Doesn't seem to make much sense nowadays. But I think it was a confusing time with Prue's death, Paige's appearance and the constant fighting. But I believe I am here to change the future so that you wouldn't have to spend a whole lifetime alone. First of all, before this spell plays out, I'm gonna tell you the things that are not related to Cole that you need to know of. Ten years from now, Piper will die similarly to mom, by the tentacles of a Fomor, a sub aquatic monster."

"Oh, God, that is what she is so afraid of exactly. But we can stop it, right?"

"Fomors kill with the glance of their eyes that they otherwise keep shut, but that is somehow missing from the Book Of Shadows. Would be relatively easy to vanquish with the power of three, but you lost the chance of that at the time. But of course, if Cole stays around, he can tell you all about them, they are not exactly welcomed down in the caves either. The other only half related issue is that Kurzon will attack downstairs in ten minutes time and you will need another power of three spell for that. I've written it down for you and put it in my pocket before I made the time jump, here."

"You made the time jump? I thought I conjured you two to hear my heart's desire."

"You did, and that made it possible for me to come back, but since I've done it forty years ago, I remembered it and came prepared."

"Great," young Phoebe said, not really sure of what to think of it all, "so...about Cole?"

"You had changed him, but you are his hook. You are all he is got to believe in, to hang on to, it is your love that keeps him from falling. If it could just stay like that, oh, he was so strong to resist even the power of the Source for a while. Don't give up on him because that decision will turn into a regret you will think about every day and every hour for the rest of your life. You've seen the good in Cole, you know he has essentially good qualities. You don't give up on a person just because he disappoints you once...now, we don't have time. Go, you have a demon to vanquish. Get him out the way and I'll tell you how to save Cole and yourself."

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"Kurzon is gone, as you said," young Phoebe reported back.

"Where is Cole?"

"Downstairs, watching ten year old us."

"Good, as he should be. He'll probably not move from there for a while. Now sit down and don't freak out anything I say. For everything, there is a solution as well. If you want Cole untainted, you have to perform exorcism on him."

"What? Why? We don't usually do that, it's too risky."

"It's riskier if you don't, you'll be back to square one, believe me. You must! So listen to me now and listen closely. The Source had not completely taken over Cole yet and it never will."

"The Source? Cole is the Source? He's downstairs with..."

"I need you to listen to me, alright? Just..."

"Oh, I knew there was something wrong," young Phoebe jumped up and headed towards the door, "Piper!"

"Will you just shut up for one minute and listen to me! God!" Old Phoebe rolled her eyes, "what a bolshie I've been. Please, let me explain. Cole will never harm you, not even when he commands the whole Underworld. He knows I'm up here, probably telling you anything I want, yet he doesn't stop me. There is no immediate emergency, but it would be better if you acted as soon as possible. Definitely before he has the chance to plant his evil seed into you."

"I can't believe what you're saying!" Her younger version tilted her head, "Cole is good now, he would never..."

"That's right, that is the right attitude. You never have to doubt his love, that is the one thing for sure you could build a whole universe on. He'll love you no matter what. And as such, he'll try to please you and stay on the side you want him on. But the Source is not a normal demon, he is more like an evil spirit. You could vanquish him, but you'd kill Cole is the process, as you did..."

"If we had vanquished him, there was a sound reason for us to do so. You know I love him with all my heart and soul. I would never do anything to hurt him either."

"You didn't find out until it was too late. But this time, you can control the situation. He will go out this evening with the pretext of needing to get out from the house again and when he comes back you will have told your sisters everything and you will be ready with the trap," old Phoebe said, not even bothering to conceal the excitement in her voice.

"I'm afraid you're dead serious," her younger version stood with a scared face to get the Book Of Shadows and a brush on her exorcism skills, "I just hope you also have a way for admonishing The Source for having the guts for choosing my fiancé!"

tbc


	4. Recycled

Chapter 4: Recycled

"But Phoebe," Piper argued, despite her best efforts to be supportive of her sister, "an exorcism can often take days, months or even years depending on the strength of the demon. And we are talking the institution of evil itself. Okay, maybe not years, because we are the Charmed Ones after all, but it could take a while. An exorcist always has to remain detached from the situation and must never allow his emotions to be caught up in the situation. How are you gonna manage that any length of time?"

"Leave that to me," Phoebe held her own, "no matter how hard it will be, I'll just have to manage cause it is about Cole. Are you going to help me or not?" She asked, exasperated. She didn't want to talk about it much, just get on with it.

"All right, all right already," Piper said with a groan, "but we have to always keep in mind that Cole is the Source right now and act with appropriate caution."

Phoebe stared at her older sister. She didn't want to think about that aspect, but it seemed like everyone who talked to her wanted to go over that again and again

with her.

"So," Piper continued, "we will be ready for a vanquish as well, just in case it doesn't go down all that well. Phoebe, you can use the magical cuffs to keep him from flaming away or shape shift, but Paige will orb the crystals around him as well. And I am in charge of this business, not you. You are too involved to think straight."

"Um… well, uh...whatever!" Phoebe gave in, "it says here you need arbutus, asafoetida, basil, bean, birch and boneset for the exorcism potion."

"I'll make the potion, and the ointment. You go with Paige to get the altar candles and the holy water."

"But..."

"You would be too nervous around the house just waiting around for him to turn up. Even go somewhere else, make sure you calm down for your big performance, cause it is you who will have to capture him."

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Phoebe was looking at a photo of her and Cole in her bedroom when he walked in. She turned around to face him, "hi."

"I just, um..."

"Had to get out of the house?"

"Yeah, something like that. Where are...?"

"My other selves? The spell played out, they told me what I needed to know. I never told you why I cast that spell did I?"

"I thought it was to hear your heart's desire."

"Yeah, about you," she moved closer to him and sat on the bed, next to the bedstead, "and I was told to hang onto you for the rest of my life, no matter what. Come here," she embraced him as he sat beside her, struggling not to cry and hugging him with all her strength, as if that in itself would've been able to keep him from flaming away. He kissed her neck softly and she rested her head against his shoulder. They held each other for what it seemed like an eternity, neither moving. Trapping him was very easy and Phoebe wondered whether it was Cole who fought the Source from not noticing that she lifted the pillow and snapped the cuff onto his wrist, the other part of the cuff having already been attached to the bed. He couldn't tell her he was the Source, but at least he was maybe able to do that. One magical cuff would've been enough to keep him from teleporting, but they needed all four for the exorcism, so her sisters orbed in with Leo and put the rest of them on, not to mention stopping him from firing energy balls."

"What is this? What have I done? Let me go!" Cole growled, struggling against his bonds.

They all stared at him as the metal blessed by white magic already started to make his skin redden, even though it didn't even hold him all that tightly, the physical reaction giving him away.

Phoebe rushed to light the twelve candles around him, Paige made a larger insurance circle with the crystals, Leo anointed him with the potions, salt and the holy water, and Piper started chanting, "from all sin,  
From your wrath,  
From the snares of the Devil..."

"Phoebe! Don't let them do this to me! I haven't done anything!" Cole thrashed about.

She would've impulsively jumped to sooth him, it was only the red in his eyes that the chanting caused that stopped her. She looked away distressed instead, not being able to stand to see her fiancé's face distorted in pain. She lifted her hands up to her face, using her fist to bite on to hold herself back from crying out loud with him, "it will be over soon," she whispered to him eventually as Piper continued with her spell.

"From anger, hatred, and all ill will,  
From all lewdness,

I command you, unclean spirit,

I cast you out, unclean spirit, along with every Satanic power of the enemy, every spectre from hell, and all your fellow companions

Depart from this mortal body at once the Gods command thee!"

When Cole cried out in agony, Piper repeated, "I cast you out, unclean spirit, along with every Satanic power of the enemy, every spectre from hell, and all your fellow companions

Depart from this mortal body at once the Gods command thee," with the same results as before.

"What are you doing?" Phoebe opposed, breathing heavily from the sight.

"I knew you were going to be to bias, you know parts that make the possessed writhe in pain meant to be repeated, cause it means it works," she tried once more, "I cast you out, unclean spirit, along with every Satanic power of the enemy, every spectre from hell, and all your fellow companions

Depart from this mortal body at once the Gods command thee!"

This time, Cole's reaction was different, he lifted his head and he attacked Piper with a bolt of red light coming from his eyes, whacking her onto the wall, turning some candles over on the way.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," Piper stood by herself, "Paige, light the candles again, it's very important they are lit at all times...and maybe I'll skip that passage momentarily right enough...power have I over thee. Power of stars have I over thee. Power of the heaven's and the worlds have I over thee..." She jumped one step back, this time ready to get out the way of the flare as Cole arched up high hollering something unintelligible, but his voice still filled with distress.

"Oh god," Phoebe said quietly. She could still see from behind her fingers she hid after how his legs kept jerking spasmodically.

"Don't stop!" Leo reminded his wife and gave her a dagger.

Piper raised the blade over her head with both hands and inched forward, ready to duck any time, "come out at this site, I command you," she stroke down and sunk it deep into Cole's flesh. She figured if she struck him in the shoulder, she wouldn't make too much damage, but it would give her the necessary blood contact for her potion to work that the blade was dipped in previously. When she pulled her weapon

out again, some black fluid throbbed out of the gash.

Cole was struggling against the cuffs again, his eyes burning with a frenetic scarlet light of despair, quivering and coughing up acid that he splattered all around. The

smell of his smouldering flesh filled the room.

"Nooo!" Phoebe shouted, "stop it Piper!"

"Hold her back!" Her sister ordered Leo, "we're almost there, it's happening," they watched as gleaming red particles surged up from Cole's body. But in a few seconds time they knew Piper was wrong, given that the particles suddenly took the form of a large fire ball with the diameter of two feet, directed right at them.

Leo orbed Phoebe out the way, and Paige did the same with Piper, although all of their bedrooms were connected now with a huge smouldering hole in the walls.

Piper shouted with renewed enthusiasm the part of the chant that worked best so far, "I cast you out, unclean spirit, along with every Satanic power of the enemy, every spectre from hell, and all your fellow companions

Depart from this mortal body at once the Gods command thee!"

Cole whined and moaned, but not half as stalwartly as he did a minute ago, then suddenly, his body went limp.

"How dare you!" The Source, a black manlike figure with no features, ran up and down and around the circle made by the sacred candles.

"Heal him, Leo," Phoebe demanded from her whitelighter. Cole was free, but bleeding his life out and suffering from the burns.

"Can't yet," Leo shook his head, "it would go back into him."

Phoebe released the shuddering form of Cole of the cuffs nevertheless, and they let her, and she started to rock him tenderly back and forth. She started on the spell with the rest of them so that they could give it the strength of the charmed ones, "Melinda..." Then she lost herself in burying her face into Cole's hair and whispering to him how it will all be okay soon, subsequently joining in with the end of the spell, "banish this evil from this century."

The Source howled, then simply vanished.

"Well, some other generation will have to deal with him, but it's the best we can do," Piper explained Leo as he will have to tell the Elders, "otherwise it will just keep changing bodies."

"Great job guys," Leo smiled as he knelt down next to Cole to heal him.

"Phoebe?" Was Cole's first word when he was able to utter it, "how come you are not angry with me?"

"It's simple, I love you," she embraced him once more.

The End.


End file.
